Lawmaker to file bill to ban teaching about slave owners in SC schools

COLUMBIA, S.C. (WCSC) - A state lawmaker wants to file a bill to ban schools from teaching about slave owners in response to an effort by Republicans to “censor the teaching of Black history.”

Rep. Jermaine Johnson (D-Hopkins) plans to file his bill as the House Education and Public Works K-12 Subcommittee is set to hold a hearing on H.3728, a bill Democrats claim would “censor curriculum taught in the classroom and prevent teachers from discussing certain topics, what far-right members of the House call ‘Critical Race Theory.’”

“If we’re afraid of teaching children about things that could cause discomfort, then we need to add slave owners to the list,” Johnson said. “Many people find this topic uncomfortable and upsetting, especially the grandparents of children who lived through the Civil Rights Movement and had relatives who were slaves themselves. We should protect our children from being exposed to this evil by sweeping it under the rug and never addressing it.”

H.3728 is called the South Carolina Transparency and Integrity in Education Act, and seeks to prohibit “certain concepts from being included in public school instruction and professional development” and to provide a means for addressing violations.

The act states that parents “are expected to be the primary source of the education of their children regarding morals, ethics, and civic responsibility.”

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